Don't Mess With A Wraith
by CodeNameTargeter
Summary: ON HOLD! Wraith Squadron member, Tyria Tainer has been captured by Admiral Daala. Now the other Wraiths must save her. Please Read and Review! Post-RotJ!
1. The cast of characters and all that jazz

**Don't Mess with a Wraith**  
Author: MiraxHalcyon  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Wraith Squadron member Tyria Tainer is captured by the Imperial Admiral Daala after hacking into Imperial files one time too many. Now, it's almost a race against time as Tyria struggles to find the willpower to withstand Daala's tortures and Kell Tainer's, Tyria's brother, willingness to break the rules.  
Disclaimer: Okay, I only feel like saying this once through out the story, so I don't own star Wars, I only own the characters you don't recognize and the versions of the characters who's names you recognize but who's characteristics you don't.

**Dramatis Personal**  
_Wraith Squadron_  
Face Loran  
Kell Tainer  
Tyria Tainer  
Adra Tallon  
Nicola Afyon  
Bror Afyon  
Gaeriel Captison  
Jade Veila  
Vana Sage  
Asyr Sei'lar  
Thracia Cho Leem  
Cloud Ritril

**The ****New****Republic  
General Wedge Antilles  
General Garm bel Iblis**

_Rouge Squadron  
Wild Knights Squadron  
Saber Squadron  
Comet Squadron_

**The Imperials**  
Admiral Daala  
Commander Tavira Davip

{Please read and review!}


	2. quite far into your systems

**Chapter One – Quite Far Into Your Systems**

Tyria Tainer floated in and out of consciousness. She struggled to remember who she was, what she did and where she was. And then, it hit her like a rock.

* * * * *

Adra Tallon frowned slightly at the small hologram in front of her. The hologram smiled slightly as Adra explain the situation to her.

"Yeah, I was just about to call you about that. Anyways, Wedge just sent me a copy of yours and my new orders. He wants one of us to stay on ground, and I'll do it," she said hurriedly, "because you're too good a pilot and Nicola needs you too much for you not to fly. I'll keep on hacking into their systems. But this time, I'll use my personal signature. Hopefully, Daala will get mad enough and concentrate on getting me. And remember, if I get captured, only my computers will miss me. You'll leave Face waiting. In the mean time," the holographic Tyria bent slightly, working with a terminal. "Use this transponder package I've spent the last week working on, on your X-wing transponder I.D. It should take them about 4 hours to break and that's if they can get a targeting lock on you for more than 5 minutes."

Adra nodded. "Okay. Will do...just be careful, okay? If I come back to find that you've not survived, I will murder you when I take the 'big leap' myself."

The other hacker smiled. "I'm always careful. And you'll be the one in danger. May the Force be with you. Tyria out." With that, Tyria terminated the transmission. Adra blinked several times, for some reason, she had this gut feeling that she wouldn't be seeing Tyria for a long time, if ever.

Tyria Tainer turned away from her terminals, feeling much more exhausted than she had an hour ago. There was no way around this, one way or another, Daala was going to get either her or Adra. And like she had told Adra, better a woman who's alone in life than one who's in love.

Taking a swig of caf, she swiveled her chair back towards her computer terminals. Pausing to collect her thoughts, she began to type commands into the computer, never pausing as she hacked her way deeper into Imperial files, looking for ones with Daala's signature trademark.

Trademark. She had almost forgotten. Normally, she tried to leave no "trail" for the Imperials to follow. But sometimes, it had been necessary to "reveal" their identities to the Imps. Tyria was a series of computer monitors to the Imps, and Adra was a computer with a lightsaber.

Her fingers pausing in the intricate dance they were typing, Tyria commed the information she had downloaded so far onto Wedge Antilles and his general staff. And then, back to work.

About 20 standard minutes later, the air above her holocomm began to shimmer into a miniature version of Admiral Daala. Smiling to herself, the normally seclusive and shy woman turned away from her terminals, putting herself into what the other Rebels called "Wraith mode."

"You're going to pay for this, Trainer!" Daala raged. Tyria raised an eyebrow.

"Really now? I don't see how. It took you long enough to even figure out who was in your systems and I did all but hit you over the head with it."

"What took so long Tainer, was getting your comm unit frequency," Daala replied, gritting her teeth.

"It did? And that's only under minimal security in my systems. But I am, it appears, quite far into your systems," Tyria paused for a moment, scanning computer screen. "For instance, I know that Thrawn doesn't approve of your plan. That translates into a victory more or less for the New Republic."

Daala grew coldly silent, her anger like ice now instead of fire. "Watch your step, Tainer, you might find yourself checking into the Gorgon's detention center!" With that, the hologram wavered and then vanished.

Tyria leaned back in her chair, brushing her long blonde-brown hair out of her face. Well it was done now and there was no turning back. Hopefully, Adra would be safe now.

Glancing at her chrono, she stood up, gathering up her various datacards and datapad. Placing them in a small satchel, she grabbed her pilot helmet and headed outside, fastening it securely on her head. Wedging the bag securely behind her seat in the X-wing cockpit, she powered up her x-wing and took off, headed towards the Corellian Corvette from which the Generals would be directing the battle.


	3. On to Plan B What's Plan B?

**Chapter Two – On to Plan B.****  What's Plan B?**

Calmly, General Garm bel Iblis ordered the Wild Knights into battle. From her terminals, Tyria looked up. That was the squadron that Adra was with. Tapping a few keys on her terminal, she switched the view of one of her monitors to a tactical screen. Her brown-gray eyes followed the blip labeled Wild Knights Two. That was Adra. Silently, she cheered each time Adra vaped an enemy. Then her eyes narrowed. About two squadrons of eyeballs were closing in on Adra and Nicola. The Imps must have cracked into that transponder code she had used though she had no clue how. She turned off her monitors and raced towards the launching bay.

Powering up her X-wing, she did a quick weapons system check and left the launching bay.

"Wraith Three, what the Sith are you doing?"

Tyria turned on her comm unit and replied grimly, "I'm saving my friend, General, that's what."

"Lieutenant, you could get a court martial for this!"

"Yeah, well unless I help Adra, you'll be working with a half strength hacker team." Cutting off the General's protests, by slamming the comm unit off, she turned back towards that battle. Adra had taken out 6 of the enemy by now and Nicola was being taken farther away by the enemy she was facing.

Zooming in, her lasers screaming, she cleared a path towards Adra. Turning her comm unit on, she yelled into it, "Adra, get the Sith out of here!"

"Circuitry Girl? What the Vong are you doing out here? You don't have a transponder code on your X-wing! Daala will have you in minutes!"

"Well unless you get out of here, she'll have both of us!" Tyria glanced at her tactical boards. They were too close to the Gorgon, Daala's flagship, for her comfort. "Adra! Get out of there! We're in range of the Gorgon's tractor beams!" But her warning came too late. One of the Gorgon's 10 tractor beams reached out and caught the x-wing in its grasp.

"Sorry Tyria, I think it's a bit late for that," Adra replied, her tone grim.

Tyria began to think, racking her brain for ideas. Wait a second, the battle back at Bothawui. "Adra, you were back at Bothawui a few years ago right?"

"Yeah, but I don't know- oh a TB twist?" Adra asked.

"Exactly, I just hope we've got that cloaker fixed if this doesn't work."

"Well at the risk of not sounding like a Jedi, good luck."

Tyria merely double clicked her comm in acknowledgement. The whole idea behind a TB twist was for several small ships to "ram" the tractor beam at full speed which would hopefully causing the beam to momentarily break off, allowing trapped ship to escape before the beam reformed.

Gritting her teeth, she shoved the speed lever all the way up and sped towards the invisible beam. Ramming it full on, she grinned slightly, the beam disparated momentarily and then snapped back into place. Except one problem, Adra was no longer there. Adra let out a whoop of glee that was abruptly cut off as it took the Gorgon exactly 2.3 seconds to reconnect the beam. Tyria groaned inwardly. This was bad, very bad.

"On to Plan B. What is plan B?" Adra's voice came dryly over the comm unit.

"Plan B involves me having no idea what to do,"

"Wonderful. Uh-oh, they're drawing me in," her voice cut off abruptly as an ion beam hit the x-wing. A low power turboblast hit the starfighter, damaging it severely. Having no choice, Adra went EV and another blast completely destroyed the x-wing.

Tyria cursed silently, saying several phrases she had learned from Kell and that were never used in polite company. She reached out with a gloved hand to flip open a hidden panel. She paused for a nanosecond before pushing the first button, instantly, the world became black. Great, she'd have to fly blind, with only her sensors to help guide her. This was one of the few times she wished she had been a Jedi. Taking a deep breath, she slowly started to guide the X-wing into the Star Destroyer. A quick glance at her sensor scan revealed that she was entering into the SD now,

And then the world came back into clarity. "Oh Sith," Tyria murmured. The cloaking device had shorted. Wonderful. Setting her x-wing down, she reached towards her feet and released the hidden door that opened up underneath the x-wing's belly. IF her luck held, she would be able to sneak out while they were watching the top hatch and help Adra.

Leaving her helmet behind, she double checked the power level on her blaster and dropped out of the x-wing, her blaster held ready to fire. Luckily, no one saw her.

Finding a computer terminal right outside the docking bay, she plugged her datapad in and began to access the Imperial network. Okay, they were taking Adra to level 3, detention block DL-773. She might be able to intercept them if she moved quickly, and moved now.

She hurried through the corridors, not running into many stormtroopers as they were all in the docking bay. Approximently 2 minutes after starting, Tyria found them, Adra; a cocky smile on her face and making sarcastic remarks, the Imperial officer's expression annoyed yet the Lieutenant kept silent. Her eyes dropped to Adra's hands, they were locked in stuncuffs in front of her, or so it appeared to the casual observer. They were actually on quiet loose Her eyes then went to Adra's boots, if she had done what any Wrath would've...There! The slightly telltale bulge in her boots. At least Adra was armed.

Waiting till they had passed, Tyria set the blaster to stun and aimed, hitting the officer and dropping him. In mere nanoseconds, Adra's stuncuffs were fully off and her lightsaber in hand. Two quick slashes and another stun bolt later left the stormtroopers with them either dead or stunned. Shutting down the green blade, Adra smiled at Tyria.

"Thanks, I never thought I'd be so glad to see a fellow Wraith!"

"Even Face?" Tyria asked teasingly. "Alright, let's get out of this death pit,"

Adra nodded and they started to jog towards the landing bay, they had almost made it when several blaster bolts flew towards them from behind. Adra dragged Tyria out of the way behind a beam support. Tyria shoved the energy level back up to kill and began to fire back, Adra and her lightsaber blocking the enemy's fire.

Shooting the last stormtrooper, Tyria pulled Adra back. Reaching into her flightsuit pocket, she pulled out a datapad.

"Here, this is all the information I could get from up here. Take it and make a run for my X-wing. I'll distract them and then steal a TIE."

Adra shook her head. "No Tyria, I'm not leaving without you. You almost got yourself killed to help me and I'm not going to let Daala get us."

"Yeah well, Face can thank me later," Tyria grumbled. Annoyed, she gave Adra a small push towards her x-wing. "Just get the Sith outta here, Adra!" Not waiting for a response, Tyria darted off the other way, towards a group of stormtroopers.

Sighing, Adra darted towards her friend's x-wing, killing the few stormtroopers guarding it. She turned back once to see Tyria shooting a dozen stormies. Smiling to herself, Adra started to power up the systems as Tyria darted towards the TIE fighters.

She didn't go for one of the eyeballs or squints, but one of the heavily guarded brights. As she left the docking bay, Adra turned back one, just in time to see a stun bolt hit Tyria. She almost turned back except for the thought that hit her, "Go."

Feeling like a complete murder, Adra set a jump for Coruscant and made the jump to lightspeed, hoping that she had not just abandoned her friend to death.

* * * * *

Admiral Daala smiled as she walked over to the prone form of Tyria Tainer. Gesturing sharply to two of the stormtroopers, she said, "Take her to detention block DL-773. And make sure she's unarmed,"

The two troopers nodded curtly and half dragged, half carried her off. _Now, Daala thought, _for her revenge.__


	4. Is anyone keeping anything that can expl...

**Chapter Three – Is Anyone Keeping ****Anything That Can Explode Away From Kell?**

Kell Tainer had returned to base an hour ago. And since then, he had received nothing but bad news. They had lost Bilbringi and his sister Tyria had gone after Adra. And no one knew where the Sith either computer hacker was.

His head jerked up as a familiar looking x-wing landed. It was Tyria's. Jumping up, he hurried over, expecting his sister. But Adra Tallon climbed out, her face grim and her eyes filled with tears. Brushing away Kell and the others' questions, she headed inside, running into her best friend Nicola Afyon on her way. A quiet question from Nicola and a short answer from Adra sent both of them into tears. Bror, Nicola's husband, went over concerned, and Nicola threw herself at him sobbing. He talked quietly to her for a few moments before drawing her closer to him, talking soothingly and quietly to her, running his fingers through her red- gold hair,

At this moment, the squad leader, Face Loran came out. He took one look at the sobbing and hurried over to her, bringing her to him.

"Adra, what happened?" he asked. Adra wiped her face slightly and then said loud and clear,

"Face, I need to talk to you and Wedge, immediately."

* * * * *

Her eyes still red, Adra walked into Wedge Antilles' office, Face Loran with her. Wedge looked up at her.

"Adra, what's the matter? And where the Sith happened to Tyria?"

Adra smiled humorlessly. "Right now, she's probably being tortured by Admiral Daala. And it's all my fault," the two men exchanged glances and Adra rushed on. "I shouldn't have left without her and I shouldn't have let the eyeballs and squints take me away from my squad, and I should've out flown that lumbering Star Destroyer,"

Slowly, as if coming out of a dream, Wedge said, his voice incredulous, "You mean to say that Tyria Tainer's been captured by Admiral Daala?" Adra nodded. "Emperor's black bones. Tyria Tainer, a captive of Daala," Wedge said quietly half to himself. Then, becoming the General again, he asked, "Does Kell know yet?" Adra shook her head. Face sighed.

"This'll be hard. Let's keep all explosives away from him for awhile,"

* * * * *

Kell Tainer banged his fist against the wall. Without turning to face them, he said slowly, "Daala's got my sister? The computer expert who only killed when she had to? And they're torturing her now most likely?" He turned around at the last part. All three nodded, Wedge and Face's eyes were red rimmed and Adra had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Excuse me," he stalked off towards the landing field. Not wanting to have to speak the words again, Face pulled out his datapad and sent a message to the other Wraiths. Half of the woman there began to openly cry, the other half had tears brimming in their eyes. The men just stood there, a bit unsure of what to do, their eyes redrimmed.

Gaeriel Captison's, the squad's "politician," head shot up suddenly. "Is anyone keeping anything that can explode away from Kell?"

"Not yet," Face answered.

Cloud Ritril stood up. He was one of Kell's good friends and a fellow demolitions expert. "I'll go. It'll give me something to do."

"Nicola broke away from Bror and went over towards Cloud. "I'll go too. My fighting skills might be needed. Though I hope, I hope that I won't have to hurt him," The rest of the squad merely nodded and the two hurried after Kell.

* * * * *

He was right where everyone had expected, in his room of highly dangerous explosives.

"Alright Kell, back away and out of the room," Nicola said simply, her lightsaber at his throat. Cloud went up and put an arm around his friend's shoulders.

"It'll be okay, we'll get her back," Nodding slightly, Kell started to leave the room, Cloud and Nicola with him, Nicola's lightsaber still on. Smiling slightly as they reentered the docking bay, Nicola shut down her lightsaber, returning it to her belt. Taking the opportunity, Kell darted away towards his X-wing. Cursing, Nicola darted after him, Cloud, Asyr Sei'lar, another Wraith, Gaeriel and Adra with her.

Before even Nicola could get there, Kell had powered up his XJ X-wing and was taking off.

"Just let him go," Face said quietly. "He'll just fly around for a bit, maybe go destroy some Imps, and then come back," Kell's oldest friend predicted.

* * * * *

Kell has what some call a one track mind. Vana Sage had once asked him if he ever thought about more than one thing, (explosives.) He had corrected her; he only thought about one thing at a time. And right now, it was getting his sister back.

Plotting a course in the nav computer to Cloud City, an Imperial stronghold, he pulled back the hyperspace lever and disappeared into what some called "the white tunnel."

Six standard hours later, he reemerged to realspace. Maintaining comm silence, he brought his X-wing to a touchdown in an unused landing pad, one the Wraiths had used many times. Jumping out of his X-wing, he went around and pulled open a hidden cargo hold. Smiling grimly, he surveyed the contents.

Dozens upon dozens of explosives greeted him. Reaching down, he pressed a hidden button, revealing dozens of highly dangerous and for the most part, highly illegal explosives. His callused fingers passed over the explosives, taking several out and rejecting the others. Pressing the button once more, he selected some lower voltage and legal explosives and placed them all in a bag by his feet. The hidden cache looked a bit emptier now; he'd have to remember to restock.

Closing the cache door, he picked up the bag, slung it over his shoulder, and headed off towards the nearest Imperial storehouse.

* * * * *

Two officer buildings, four storehouses, and nine ships later, Kell's comlink began to beep. Grinning slightly, he answered it.

"Explosion Boy. Start talking."

"What are you doing, Kell? Daala just contacted us and told us that unless you stop this immediately, she'll kill Tyria!" Face's voice came out over the comlink, loud and annoyed.

"I'm blowing up buildings, that's what. And knowing Daala, she wouldn't hurt Tyria right off the bat. Circuitry Girl's hacked in and stolen too many of Daala's secrets for that."

"Kell! She's like my sister! You want to risk her life just to have fun blowing up Imps?"

Kell's voice grew grim and hard. "She is my sister, Face. And I'm not going to let her be tortured."

Face's voice grew a bit curious. "Tell me, how many buildings have you blown up?"

"Let's see here. Two officer buildings, four storehouses, and nine ships," a loud boom went off behind him. "Actually, make that five storehouses."

"Alright Kell, you've had your fun. Now get back to Coruscant and that's an order. Poster Boy out."

Kell stared at the comlink. This was the first time in awhile Face had given him an order and pulled rank. And this would be the first time in even longer that he actually followed one.


	5. Take her into the intogeration chamber

**Chapter Four - ****Take Her To The Interogation Chamber  
  
**

Admiral Daala turned away from the monitors in her control room. Tyria Tainer was getting what she deserved. Her commander, Tavira Davip, handed her a datapad. Her green eyes scanned it quickly. Sith, this was not good. 20 ships and buildings destroyed by Kell Tainer.

She stalked down the corridors towards the detention block DL-773. Officers and stormtroopers took one look at her and hurried out of the Admiral's way. The two stormtroopers standing outside Tainer's cell saluted sharply and Daala nodded in return. She reached up and pressed in her code and the door slid open with a hiss to reveal one weak and tired computer hacker. Tyria sat up a bit more and crossed her arms defiantly.

"I'm sure you'll be pleased to know, Miss Tainer, that your brother has destroyed 11 Imperial buildings and 9 Imperials ships."

Tyria grinned a bit weakly. "Good for him, you've got too much anyway."

"Perhaps Tainer, another does of pain will change your mind about that. If you ever see your brother again, you can thank him for this," A discreet signal from Daala brought the two stormtroopers in. Each one took a firm hold of the young woman's arms and pulled her to her feet.

"Take into to the same interogation chamber as before," Daala ordered, her green eyes never leaving Tainer's face. The Wraith merely raised an eyebrow and walked with the troopers towards another session of pain.

* * * * *

Tyria screamed inwardly but tried not to let too much of her pain show on her face. That would be letting Daala win. And no good Wraith ever let an Imperial win.

To most, Tyria appeared to be a quiet and reserved woman who kept to her computers and had no outside life. Most would guess that she would be the first one to break if tortured, out of the Wraiths. But then again, everyone else was a Jedi except for herself, Kell, Face, and Cloud, (who was Force sensitive.)

But anymore thoughts she might have had on such a subject were cut off as several needles were stuck into her, again. She would have jerked away if she hadn't been strapped to the "table." Her legs were held down by two thick leather straps, one on each leg, one at her waist, one a bit above, and one on each of her wrists, which were at about head, level. In other words, she was stuck for a long time.

Daala watched the procedures from a corner, just within Tyria's range of sight. She gave a curt nod to one of the officers in charge who stepped forward, a needle and syringe in hand. Jabbing it in her arm, she winced slightly in pain.

"It's a wonderful thing, that drug you've just been given. You see," Daala said clearly from her viewpoint. As she spoke, another Imp stepped forward, something, she couldn't tell exactly what in hand. "This particular drug is ineffective until it is activated by the cold."

The Imperial stepped forward and pressed the cold torture implement on her arm. Tyria's body screamed with pain. She would not do it. She would not do it. She would be a true Wraith. She would not let Daala have that satisfaction of her screaming.

* * * * *

Four hours later, they unstrapped her from the "table." Wavering on the brink of unconsciousness, she struggled to make her body obey her orders. Two stormtroopers caught her as she dropped towards the ground, her legs refusing to support her.

Watching with a delight that was almost holy, Daala nodded curtly to the troopers. "Take her back to her cell. Perhaps now she has learned why breaking into my files is a dangerous thing."

Too weak to even consider a comeback, Tyria went off with the troopers. _This is getting to be a habit, she thought wearily; one she really wanted to end.****_


	6. Call it Face, all of us or me and the tw...

**Chapter Five - ****Call It Face, All Of Us Or Me And The Two Ladies?**

Kell stormed into the Wraith's lounge room, all of the remaining Wraiths present whirling around to see.

"Enough is enough Face! She's been there over a month. Either we can go against the High Command as an intelligence team, or I'll go alone," Kell said angrily, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Adra and Nicola glanced at each other, obviously speaking through the Force; less than a minute later, they both stood up and walked over to stand beside Kell.

"Three Wraiths can do more than one, Kell. We're coming too," Nicola said simply, for once with no sarcastic comment or such attached.

"It's my fault she's there anyways. She got me out and now it's my time to return the favor," Adra added, her tone also unusually mild and devoid of sarcasm.

Kell raised an eyebrow at them, Nicola in particular. "Oh, well um, thanks for the offers ladies, but should you really be going on this?"

Nicola glared at him, silver eyes flashing. "Why does everyone assume that just because I'm several weeks pregnant, that I'm made of glass? Besides, I was Targeter, remember?"

Kell gulped and nodded. It was a bit hard to forget that. Whenever one of the male Wraiths, Face Kell, Cloud, and occasionally Bror, got the women annoyed, Nicola would step in and use her fighting skills from her previous job as a NRI agent. And when Nicola struck, you were silent.

"As I said before, I'm the reason Tyria's there. And having two Jedi along will help. We've got some special powers remember?" Adra said her voice with more life in it than before.

Realizing the futility of arguing, Kell merely nodded. "Alright fine. Well, call it Face, all of us or just me and the two ladies?"

Face glared at him. "Kell, sometimes I hate you." Turning back to the remaining Wraiths, he asked, "Alright, but volunteers only. Anyone?"

Bror immediately stood up and went to stand beside his wife. No words were needed to see that he would go along, to not only rescue Tyria, but to keep an eye on his very willful and occasionally a bit impetuous wife.

Gaeriel Captison, Asyr Sei'lar, and Vana Sage stood up and stepped forward.

"Three more Jedi for the party," Asyr said, smiling slightly. Behind them, the door burst open, revealing Cloud dragging Jade Veila behind him. 

"I'm coming with ya, Kell. And Jade is too. Or she will be once the situation is explained," Cloud said, a bit breathless. Jade merely glanced at him, her green eyes a bit hard. Turning back to Kell, she raised a questioning eyebrow. Taking a hint, Kell started to explain.

"So, will you come along?" Kell finished.

Jade nodded. "Of course, Tyria is my friend as well." Kell grinned, now they were 10. All eyes turned towards the last Wraith in the room, Thracia Cho Leem, the only Wraith who was also a member of the Jedi Council.

Thracia glanced at each face in turn.

"Well?" Kell asked impatiently. Thracia thought for a moment before replying.

"I'll come except for one thing. We'll have to postpone the mission for two weeks because I've got Council duty."

Face nodded. "Alright, then we all go," Kell started to protest but Face cut him off. "It would take us at least a week and a half to get everything arranged. And we'd better tell Wedge what's happening so that Iella doesn't lend us to the Jedi or send us on another mission,"

Making a slight face, Kell mumbled, "I knew that."

Clapping him on the shoulder, hard enough to make him wince, Gaeriel replied, "Sure you did Explosion Boy. Sure you did."

* * * * *

Wedge Antilles leaned back in his office chair, contemplating about the past two months' events. Things had happened very quickly and the majority of it had been bad. They had not merely lost Bilbringi shipyards to Daala, but they had lost almost 2 complete y-wing squads and about a squadron of a-wings and b-wings. Not to mention Tyria Tainer being captured.

Not only was she a long time member of Wraith Squadron, but also half of the NR's hacking system. They had only ever needed Tyria and Adra. Between the two of them, they could probably hack into any system anytime given the right tools. Worse, if Daala managed to "break" Tyria, about 90% of the New Republic's security codes and ship I.D. overlays would come spilling out. The only worse thing that Wedge could think of would be if Tyria was either sent to Ysanne Isard, and tortured by her, or if she was turned into an Imperial spy.

It wouldn't be the first time it had happened. Several Rebels had been Imperial supplies, including that Thyferan awhile back, Erisi Dlarit. Hell, Tycho Celchu, Wedge's twic, had been wrongfully suspected of being an Imperial turncoat.

But he couldn't dwell on only bad things that had happened. There had been some good. Two new Special Forces squadrons had been created about 4 months ago and had survived the Bilbringi disaster. Nicola Afyon, formerly Nicola Ettyk, had passed the Jedi trials, married her former Jedi Master Bror, started a new squadron, The Wild Knights, and was now pregnant. Several other Wraiths had started dating other pilots. But the largest surprise had been Face and Adra. Before Nicola had intervened, both had argued with a passion but really were in love with the other underneath. He hadn't been there, but Asyr Sei'lar had told him that Nicola had had to use the Force to get them to show their true passion.

But enough about that. He sat up in his chair and checked the date on his chrono. Just as he had thought. The remaining Wraiths were leaving on their rescue mission. Hopefully, they would find Tyria sane, unbroken, and alive.

*Quick Author's Note:  Jade normally comes out of her "lair" once every year or so  
**Second A/N:  I'm well aware that Thracia Cho Leem is supposed to have quit the Old Jedi Order when Anakin Skywalker was like...13, but she's resurrected here in a new version.  A very new version.  
***Last A/N  AdraLoran is writing a story about the event matchmaking event Nicola brought about. And I will to most likely. They're both based on an RPG called The Core Worlds.


	7. Appealing to my vanity will not get you ...

**Chapter Six - ****Appealing To My Vanity Won't Get You Out Of Sentry Duty**

Face Loran gazed around the dark and dingy room in which the Wraiths were. Not exactly an ideal spot to hide and not exactly a "homey" spot either. When the last Wraith, Nicola, came in, he made a small gesture to Kell, who came over.

"Mark all the entrances and exits in and out of this room,"

"Yes, Great One!" Kell said, mock saluting.

"Appealing to my vanity won't get out of sentry duty. Well not this time."

Adra rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. Face grinned back at her and turned back to Kell, who was snickering. Face's expression turned into a glare.

"Sentry duty Kell, now!" Face snapped t his twic. Grumbling about how being Face's twic for all these years wasn't really worth it, he headed towards the door. Cloud, Kell's partner in crime, got up and went over to keep Kell company. Face turned back to Adra, the love of his life. Well, maybe that was a bit extreme. They had only been dating for 2 months now. And it would've been longer if they hadn't been covering up their true feelings for each other by bickering constantly. _But now was not really the time for those thoughts_, Face thought. Right now he should be thinking about-

Adra lowered her slender frame to the floor beside him. He smiled at her slightly as she rested her head on his shoulder. Several thoughts came to his mind that this was _definitely_ not the time for.

Adra's head abruptly shot up and she glared at him. "Lovely thoughts Face." Face groaned inwardly. The downside of dating a Jedi.

Trying to look as innocent as he could, he replied, "What? I was just thinking about how beautiful you are!"

Adra raised an eyebrow. "No you weren't. You just wanted to jump into bed with me."

"Alright, fine! I was!" Face admitted. Adra smiled fake-sweetly.

"You flyboys. All you ever think about is sex." Face mumbled some unintelligible things, amongst which the words "It's not my fault we do!" were barely recognizable.

Across the room, Nicola glanced up and caught Adra's eye and the two grinned and suppressed laughs.

"Face, you really need to learn discretion," Adra said.

"Well it's not my fault that you're a Jedi," Face retorted.

"Face," Nicola said loudly, "You were thinking loud enough for Wedge to hear if he'd been here, and he's Force blind as you!"

"I give up! I take so much abuse from you Jedi women! I think I'll just go back to impersonating Imperial madmen."

From his post as sentry, Kell started to laugh, which he quickly turned into a racking cough. Back when Wraith Squadron has first been formed, one of Face's first assignments had been impersonating an Imperial Captain.

Not being able to keep his big mouth shut any longer, the big man nodded, "Or else you could go back to being Dod from Agamar!" That had been Face's next assignment.

Glaring, Face chucked a sizeable chunk of rock at him which Kell easily dodged.

Intervening upon the fledgling war, Jade Veila, the group navigator and communication's officer, silently sent a datapad zooming via the Force into Face's hands. His emerald green eyes scanned the information, his expression frowning a bit more serious. Adra leaned over and read it over too. She glanced sharply over at Jade, the two obviously having a conversation through the Force. After a few moments, Adra nodded and started to turn on her "toys." Face turned towards her, all business now.

"Well, can you?" He asked. Adra nodded.

"Sure. I can eve tell you what Daala had for dinner tonight if you give enough time and if you shut up for a few Sithin' moments."

Instantly, Face shut his mouth, letting the computer hacker work.

* * * * *

Adra half glared at her miniature computer screen. The first part, getting into the system, had been easy. But figuring out how exactly to convince the computers that she was friendly and that they should listen to her was a bit harder. Apparently Daala had put a bit more security on her files. Which was not good. Tyria wasn't going to like it either if- when they rescued her.

Frowning slightly, she worked on tapping into Daala's personal files. She'd have to be extremely careful now. One wrong attempt from a source would most likely set off a system alarm. She cursed silently in Huttese. This was a one shot thing. Unless...

Rooting in her bag, she drew out a small instrument about 4 by 4 by 2 inches. Tyria had built it just over a year ago. The whole concept behind it was that it would trick the computer being hacked into that you were on another planet. And you could keep changing the planet, effectively concealing the fact that the same person had attempted to hack in multiple times.

Grinning slightly, Adra turned it on and went to work.

* * * * *

Almost four standard hours later, close to midnight, Adra shoved a datapad into Face's hands, her eyes weary. Nicola shoved an eldo beer into her hands. Nodding her thanks, Adra downed it in one gulp and leaned back as the need for sleep over took her.


	8. Alright Computer Girl, try this

Chapter 7: "Alright Computer Girl, try this-"  
  
Hardly the group's ranking officer or even one of the oldest Wraiths, Nicola Afyon was in charge of the mission. Face had originally offered command to Kell, since he was a former commando and he had the most at stake here. But Kell had refused it, saying the only reason he had been one of Page's Commandos, was because he had enjoyed blowing things up. So Face had then reluctantly turned to Nicola, who would've normally been his first choice except for that fact that she was pregnant. Actually, Adra had been his next choice after Kell but she had refused and "ordered" Face to give command to Nicola.  
So here they were, in the middle of an Imperial stronghold, Cloud City, on what was damn well near to a suicide mission to rescue Tyria Tainer.  
Red Group, Nicola, Adra, and Kell, silently slipped into one of the control rooms. For someone so big, Kell could actually move rather quietly. Coolly, Nicola pulled out a blaster and fired, killing on of the six Imperials present. The other five whirled around, shocked. Ten seconds later, it was all over and Kell was dragging the six dead Imperials into the maintenance closet, grumbling about how he had to do all the grunt work. Adra shot him "the look" and he shut his mouth quickly.  
Pulling out her comlink, Nicola flipped it on. "Red group in position. Blue and Green, report." She waited for about four standard seconds before the comlink crackled and Face's voice came out.  
"Blue group's in position, Red." Face, Bror, and Asyr had taken over the comcenter about 10 klicks away from them. Right now, Asyr was probably doing the same thing as Adra, working with the Imp. Computers though Adra was probably getting twice as far.  
Nicola waited another three standard seconds before bringing the comlink back up towards her mouth and said, "Green, report status."  
IGive us a sec, Fighter Girl/I Gaeriel's voice came through the Force to her. I All right, Jedi Girl says to report success for Green Group. Jade and Van would say hi, but they're a bit busy right now./I  
Nicola grinned slightly. Vana was probably trying to get all the scientific information from the Imperials as possible and Jade was most likely downloading their starfield maps and such.  
Leaning back in her chair, Nicola reached a hand up to run her fingers through her hair but then stopped and put it back down. She had almost forgotten that before the mission's start, she had cut it short and dyed it black. If she had been in an Imperial uniform, she would've fit right in with the other young officers. Infact, some would probably recognize her as "Inyri Larse."  
Nicola shook her head to clear the thoughts. Evidently, she was getting bored. Stealing a vibroblade from Kell, she sharpened it, keeping herself from boredom. The others were probably feeling the same was as they waited for Adra, Asyr, Jade, and Vana to finish their work with the Imperial system.  
Slamming her fist down on the table, Adra filled the air with curses.  
"What's the matter, Adra?" Nicola asked.  
"In short, I can't get into this one program and it's a program we really need," Adra replied.  
"Didn't you hack into everything before?"  
"Everything except for this cell block code program,"  
Nicola's expression grew distant as she tried to remember, it had been so long ago....  
"All right Computer Girl, try this- G9WHQ7A361576AJE2223344DI7724," Nicola said, rattling off the thirty-digit code. Frowning slightly, Adra typed in the command code. Moments later, a grin came across her features as the files opened up before her.  
"How the Sith did you know that, Nicola?" Adra asked. Nicola shrugged slightly as slightly unpleasant memories came back to her.  
"My Targeter days. I had to break five Rebels out from Bastion," Kell's eyes widened. Bastion had once been Imperial headquarters for awhile and had top level security. Not exactly an easy place for jail breaking.  
"That was you?" Adra looked stunned. "That was almost three years ago! You must've been-"  
"Sixteen, going on seventeen," Nicola said absently, her mind on another conversation. "Blue group's in place and Gaeriel's outside. Let's go."  
Taking back his vibroblade, Kell stood up and opened the door. Gaeriel gave him a slight smile and stepped in and moved to sit in the command chair. Though she didn't show it on her politically trained face, Nicola could still sense the older woman's disappointment at being slotted for command center duty. But quite frankly, that was where "Politics Girl" could serve best so tough luck for her. Vana Sage had been equally annoyed at being sent for "desk duty." But after Nicola had threatened to sit them down for one-on-one tactical meetings with Wes Janson, both women's protests had been abruptly silenced.  
Double checking the power setting and energy levels on her blasters, Nicola nodded to Kell and Adra.  
"May the Force be with you," Gaeriel said softly. The Wraiths grinned slightly and moved out.  
Nicola pulled out her comlink. "This is Wraith Eight. Red Group is approaching, no neg that, Red Group is at "launch point." From now on, no comlinks, no lightsabers unless we have o, and only limited Force talk, got it?"  
Grinning slightly as Blue and Green confirmed hearing, she flipped the comlink off and shoved it into her black flightsuit pocket. She and Adra both placed their lightsabers in their boots.  
Kell pulled a small red laser light out of his pocket. As Adra and Nicola went behind him, he blinked it twice at a far corner. About a standard second later, a green one blinked back, and almost 30 seconds later, a blue one blinked as well.  
Silently, Nicola laughed. That would be Face with the blue laser. He'd probably "lost" it to annoy Asyr and Bror. All three groups moved quickly, finally meeting at a point about 40 minutes away from where Tyria was being held. Nicola quickly scanned Green Group to double check that Vana hadn't gone against orders and come along. Good, she hadn't.  
Jade came over towards her, her normally a flaming red hair a darker brown. All of the lighter haired Wraiths had died their hair to make concealment easier.  
"How long can you keep up the Force shield?" Nicola asked her. Jade was extremely gifted in Force illusions. She could "shield" the Wraiths from the Imperials.  
Jade considered it for a few moments. "An hour, maybe 15 minutes more."  
"Could you keep it up for longer if you were in a trance?" Nicola queried.  
"Two hours. That's all I can guarantee," Jade replied curtly. Nicola thought for a few seconds.  
"I'll have Thracia and Bror switch off levitating you. We'll need all the time we can get," Jade nodded and Nicola went to talk with her husband and Thracia.  
  
(Author's Note: Yes, it's a bit boring. But I had to cut a chapter in half and this seemed to be good place to cut it in half. Chapter 8 will be much more exciting! I promise!) 


	9. This isn't learn about Nicola day,

Chapter Eight: "This isn't learn-about-Nicola day,"  
  
Adra watched as Nicola led them through Cloud City's corridors. It still felt odd, moving along without any attempt at concealment as they had Jade's Force shield in place. Adra, Nicola and the rest of the Jedi stopped abruptly, the people behind them slamming into their backs. A large group, about 30, was approaching them from the front. They looked around quickly for possible places to hide since 30 Imperials and 9 Wraiths wouldn't fit in the corridor.  
Without any warning, Nicola suddenly sprung up towards the corridor ceiling, using telekinesis to give herself an extra push. Adra watched in fascination as Nicola wedged her feet under two pipes and held on to another with her left hand as her right one worked on undoing a latch. A panel swung down, almost hitting Kell, revealing an overhead space to the Wraiths.  
Dropping back down to the floor, she grinned slightly at Adra. "Go ahead up, Kell, Face. The rest of us can get up a bit easier than you,"  
Kell reached up and easily grabbed the edge of the ceiling and pulled himself up. Reaching down, he offered a hand first to Face, then to Cloud. Thracia jumped up and then levitated Jade, in a trance, up to the "space," and Asyr right behind her.  
His voice tight and controlled, Bror said," They're coming. We've got 20 seconds."  
After a stern look from Nicola, Adra jumped up into their hiding spot, leaving Bror and Nicola standing there. Bror opened his mouth to tell Nicola to go on up, but before he could get the words out, Nicola levitated him up into the hole. The sound of marching feet slowly started to become louder. Adra could almost hear the cursing running through her friend's mind, of which well over half were never used around children.  
[Force Speech] Close the Sithin' hatch, [/Force Talk] Nicola said grimily to Adra. When Adra didn't move immediately, Nicola jumped up, grabbed several pipes, and pushed the hatch shut with her feet, using the Force to make the lock click. Wedging her feet under pipes and readjusting her grip with her hands, she waited all of two seconds before the first rank of Imperials arrived. If any looked up, she was screwed.  
Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead, her muscles started to ache. Several drops of sweat fell, hitting two soldiers, one on the nose and the other on the shoulder. They both looked up and fired two stun bolts at her.  
Kicking the latch and breaking it, Nicola swung down, kicking the two soldiers backwards, knocking several of their fellows down. Dropping all the way down, she flipped one man over her head, slamming him into another. Pulling out a blaster, she fired repeatedly and quickly, taking out six more Imps. Ten down, twenty to go.  
Reaching out with the Force, she called her lightsaber to her. In a silver blur, it flew up from her boot and into her jumpsuit sleeve into the hidden sheath for it she had there. Kicking another officer in the throat twice and killing her, she fired her blaster again.  
Suddenly, Adra had dropped down into the fray, blaster firing rapidly. The remaining Imps turned towards her, surprised. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Nicola exploded in a flurry of kicks, punches, and flips.  
Glad for once that she was short, Nicola leapt into the air, her knees bent and turned outwards. Kicking them outwards, her boots hit the throats of two Imps, instantly killing them. Snapping her legs back together, she came down, going into a forward roll. As she came out of it, her blasters were in hand and aimed at two Imps. She fired, leaving eight Imperials. Another Imp rushed at her, and she held up a hand, the hilt of her lightsaber in it. Activating the beam, she watched coolly as the Imperial neatly ran himself through.  
Seven blasters fired, each hitting different targets and killing them instantly. Wiping the light sheen of sweat out of her eyes, Nicola looked around. In between Adra coming down and the last Imperials dying, Bror, Asyr, Kell, Face, and Cloud had dropped down. The other blast shots had come from them and Adra. A moment later, Thracia and Jade, who was out of her trance, came down. Every single Wraith present was looking at Nicola with a bit of an awed expression.  
"Hey Poster Boy, did you get that on holocamera?" Kell asked. Face rolled his eyes.  
"I used to act in the holodramas, not operate the cameras, Explosion Boy."  
Nicola fixed all of them with a hard glare. "What? All I did was beat up some Imps! And I'm not really in shape for some of those kicks either,"  
Kell shook his head in amazement. "Listen to the woman. She says that she's not in shape after kicking fifteen Imperial asses!"  
His worry showing, Bror crossed over to her quickly and took her in his arms. "Don't ever scare me like that again," he murmured in her ear, having to bend slightly.  
"Sorry. And don't worry, the little one's fine," she replied quietly.  
"We should move on," a low voice came from the to her side of the corridor. As one, Nicola and Bror turned to see who had spoken. It was Jade. No one really knew what her voice sounded like as she almost never spoke.  
"You're right. Go back into you're trance whenever you're ready," Nicola replied.  
Jade nodded. Crossing over to Cloud, whose expression was a bit apprehensive, her lightsaber jumped into her hand. "Can you still use a lightsaber?"  
Gulping, Cloud nodded. "I think, haven't used one in a while."  
Running a finer along the casing, she tossed the lightsaber to Cloud. "If you lose or damage this, you'll be taking an extended vacation to hell's inner circle."  
Fumbling slightly as he caught it, his eyes widening. Jade never let anyone touch her lightsaber. Of course, she came on about 1 out of 100 missions. For the first time, Cloud was lost for words. He finally nodded and mumbled a "Yessum,"  
Satisfied, Jade lowered her muscular frame back to the ground, crossing her legs "Indian style." The air around the Wraiths blurred for a moment and then became still again. Nodding briskly, Nicola started to walk again, as if nothing had ever happened.  
  
Kell kicked down the door leading into cellblock DL-773. Grinning, Nicola, Adra, Asyr, Face, Bror, Cloud, and Kell advanced in, blasters out and ready. An Imperial officer stood up quickly, a Major by his rank insignia.  
"What are you doing here, Rebel Scum?" he asked, sneering.  
Behind him, a lieutenant turned on a communit. Her voice sharp, Nicola said. "Kell, blast it." Grinning even broader, Kell fired his blaster at it, turning it into a molten mass or metal.  
"Hands in the air, all of you!" Nicola ordered briskly. As one, the six Jedi pilots plus Cloud reached out with the Force and the Imperials' blasters flew towards them. Moving swiftly, Nicola went over to a side panel and pulled out several pairs of stuncuffs. Tossing several to the other Wraiths, she began to secure the Imperials' hands behind them.  
As she came towards a taller, sturdily built woman, the woman and the man next to her studied Nicola's face, as if trying to remember something.  
"Larse? Inyri Larse?" Nicola froze several waves of shock coming from her before she managed to get her mental shields back in place.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied.  
  
The man scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Those silver lamps of yours are a bit of a legend, Inyri. And don't tell me you've forgotten you're good ol' pals Evin and Gaerra already, lass!"  
  
If anything, Nicola only grew stiffer. "Inyri Larse is dead, Evin," she said softly, Kell had to struggle to hear her.  
  
His voice equally low, the man, Evin, replied. "Don't lie girl. You might now call yourself Inyri anymore, but I know it's still you love," Unfortunately for Nicola, he wasn't yet stuncuffed. Cupping her face in his hands, he leaned down and kissed her. Coming up briefly, he said "Oh it's Inyri alright," and kissed her again. Nicola's eyes flashed and she kneed him in the balls.  
  
Letting go of her, he doubled over in pain. Furious, Nicola pulled out her blaster and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. Her wedding ring on her left hand easily visible, she advanced on Evin. But surprisingly, Bror got there first.  
  
"Get away from my wife, you bastard!" Bror said in a low and menacing tone. Balling his hand into a fist, he swung at Evin and shattered his jaw. Now Nicola was beside him, her blaster aimed and her hand steady.  
  
Sensing what Nicola was going to do, Adra pulled out her own blaster and began to fire at the security cameras around the room, Kell willingly helping.  
  
As they blasted the last camera, Nicola fired seven shots in rapid succession at Evin's chest. He dropped to the ground, huge gaping holes in his chest. Reholstering her blaster, Nicola walked over and spit contemptuously on Evin.  
  
Bror, Adra, and everyone else looked at Nicola, shock evident in their eyes. A thousand questions were on their lips when Nicola cut then off with,  
  
"This isn't learn-about-Nicola day. It's rescue-Tyria day,"  
  
With that, she headed down the cell block hallway, never looking back. Shutting their mouths, the other Wraiths followed her. She did have a point, thought Kell, learning about her life history definitely shouldn't be on the top of their priority list. 


	10. After what I've been through, I wished I...

**Chapter 9 - After What I've Been Through, I Wished I Was Dead**

Still a tad annoyed about the whole Evin incident, Nicola watched as Adra tapped in Daala's personal code for Tyria's cell door. The door hissed open, revealing a stormtrooper guard and an almost unconscious Tyria Tainer. One quick shot from Nicola at the camera and one at the guard from Adra later, all the present Wraiths crowed into Tyria's cell. Adra and Asyr started to pick the locks on the stuncuffs that attached Tyria's hands to opposite walls. As she started to fall forward, Kell moved to catch her, but Cloud got there first.

* * * * *

She fell forward into a strong set of arms, barely conscious. Seven black blurs moved in front of her. "Kell?" she asked her voice hoarse.

"No, it's Cloud," the man holding her said quietly.

"Bror, see if you can heal her!" That would be Nicola, but Tyria didn't see any black blurs with red-gold hair.

A tall blur came over and lay a cool hand on her forehead. Slowly, the world became sharper and clearer and the pain started to dull.

She blinked several times and then reopened her eyes to take in scene before her. Bror stood in front of her, smiling slightly. Kell was hovering over her, letting his big brotherly protectiveness show through for once. She was a bit surprised that he wasn't the one supporting her.

Tyria glanced up slightly and studied Cloud's expression. There was an emotion there that she didn't know the name of. It wasn't one that one would normally see on Mechanic Boy's face. Before she could ponder that thought any longer, Adra half pushed her way through the thong surrounding Tyria. Embracing the older woman, she smiled slightly, tears in her eyes.

"Tyria...I never should've gone. I'm so sorry..." Adra's expression changed to one of self anger. "I shouldn't've left you to the Imps." Adra paused for a moment. "I thought I'd killed you."

Tyria grinned slightly at Adra and replied dryly, "After what I've been through, I wished I was dead."

Adra glared at her friend. "If you_ ever_ say that again, I will give you a million other things to think about that would be much, much wo-" Cloud glared at Adra, causing her to shut up.

Through a gap between bodies, Tyria saw Nicola look critically at Cloud. Knowing Nicola, she was probably getting some ideas for her on-the- side matchmaking business.

Thracia checked her chrono and glanced over at Jade. "We'd better go soon. I don't know how much longer Jade can keep this shield up,"

Tyria smiled slightly at the sound of the curse words coming out of Nicola's mouth. She had leaned a few new ones, probably from Kell. It was astounding how many things, both small and large, that she had taken for granted several months ago, had disappeared over the past two months. Now that they were back again, she was enjoying every one of them, even her brother's annoying love of explosives.

"Tyria," Nicola's voice cut into Tyria's musings. "Can you walk?"

Tyria shrugged. "I'm not sure. Nothing to do but see. Cloud, you big oaf," she said "Put me down for a moment!"

* * * * *

Cloud winced slightly at Tyria's choice of wording. Sure, Tyria called all of the male Wraiths 'big oaf', but it hurt him slightly. He was in love with this woman and she had just called him a big oaf. Of course, she didn't have any idea that he was in love with her, and he didn't plan on her finding out any time soon. She had already turned him down when she had said that she wouldn't exactly be jumping up and down to date an explosives expert several months ago.

Setting her down carefully, he watched as she struggled to walk more than several feet.

"That would be a 'no', Nicola," Tyria said dryly. She leaned heavily on Kell's shoulder. Right now, Cloud actually hated his friend, wishing that he was the one Tyria was leaning on.

Nicola nodded sharply and looked over a Bror, the two obviously Force talking. Bror raised an eyebrow and moments later, Nicola's silver eyes flashed. Finally, Bror nodded and caught Tyria in a Force grip.

The Wraiths moved out of the cell, Cloud trailing behind with Tyria, Thracia, and the still form of Jade.

Almost unconsciously, his hand went to the hilt of Jade's lightsaber, which hung at his waist on the hook where his own lightsaber had once hung. The Council had taken it away and forbidden him to build another one when he had been thrown out of the Jedi Order. He had never expected to even touch another one, never mind use or carry one. For the first time in awhile, Cloud regretted making his Master's lightsaber into a bomb and not getting to complete his Jedi training. If he had, he could've been the one who had her in a Force grip.

He frowned slightly as the Wraiths moved through the halls, pausing momentarily as Nicola fired her blaster several more times into Evin's body. Couldn't really blame the woman after what had happened. Musing over many a thought, Cloud followed the rest of the Wraiths, very nearly running into several support beams as his mind was elsewhere.

* * * * *

Nicola held up a hand, halting the Wraiths. Turning her head, she glanced at Jade. The silent woman was covered in sweat, her eyes closed in her trance. But this wasn't the worst of the Wraiths' troubles. Another group of Imperials was headed their way, no doubt to check the detention block they'd just come from.

"Oh Sithspit! Not again!" she muttered underneath her breath.

"What? Will y-" Kell started to say loudly, cut off by his sister who elbowed him in the stomach. Lowering his voice, he continued, "Will you have to go Targeter again?"

She merely nodded and motioned for everyone to get flat against the walls and to keep silent. Three hands reached down for lightsabers, two for blasters, and three for both.

Silver eyes glanced once more towards the prone figure of Jade. The woman's strength was definitely fading, she was surprised that she'd even lasted this long, most Jedi couldn't. She glanced over at Thracia. The older woman still seemed to be going strong even after almost one and a half-hours of levitating Jade.

_Could you help reinforce Jade's mind shield, Jedi Girl?_ Nicola asked her silently through the Force. Thracia nodded slightly.

_Yes, though I'm not sure how long I'll be able to last. I think there's a Sith or two here._

_Sithspit_.___ Well, just see what you can do to help. The troops are about twenty standard seconds away._

Thracia nodded and broke off the Force link between them. Nicola sensed the woman add her strength to Jade's.

All the Wraiths remained deathly still and silent as the Imps approached. And then, it happened.

All the Jedi bent over double, wincing in pain as they felt the touch of two Sith, Darth Maul and most likely his apprentice Seba, probing at the shields. Before any of the Jedi could reach out with the Force to assist Jade and Thracia, an even stronger probe came, breaking the shield. Thracia let out a low cry of pain, as her connection with Jade was broken, Jade came out of her trance and dropped to the floor, too weak to stand or even move, and more than a few blasters came to aim straight at the Wraiths as Jade's Force shield failed.


End file.
